DEVELOPING ITEMS FOR MEASURING QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AMONG MALAYSIAN ACADEMICS: AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

Abstract

Purpose of the study: Quality of work life (QWL) is vital for all establishments to continue to hire and retain high-performance workers. However, from the review of previous literature on QWL, little is known about the dimensions that constitute high QWL among academics. Therefore, this study aimed at contributing to the literature by conducting a detailed validation of seven dimensions of QWL through the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) procedure. Methodology: This study employed a cross-sectional research design to establish reliable measures for the QWL construct. The items were adapted and modified to suit this study. Study data was obtained using a structured questionnaire from 100 randomly selected academics from the five Malaysian research universities. The study further conducted the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) procedure using IBM-SPSS version 21.0. Main Findings: A total of 51 items were initially developed to measure QWL construct, however, from the EFA procedure, the study found that 8 items with factor loading below the cut-off point of .60 were deleted and 48 items with a factor loading above the cut-off point of .60 were retained and deemed suitable to measure the QWL construct. Applications of this study: This study validated the dimensions that lead to improved QWL. Therefore, this study is particularly useful to the Malaysian universities' management who aim to obtain benefits from super motivated and high-performance academics by making sure that the workers' overall well-being is protected in the workplace. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study established a validated and reliable instrument for measuring the QWL construct among academics in the Malaysian research universities.